Meryn and Beth eyed each other then turned to look at Penny. Meryn shrugged. "Why not?"
Colton stood. "Thank you ladies." He ruffled Penny's hair and walked around her chair to stand next to Rheia. He leaned down and kissed her gently. "Get my cell phone number from Meryn and text me later."
"I will. Have fun today."
Colton rolled his eyes. "Aiden always gets so grumpy when he realizes he's made a mistake, he'll be an absolute bear to be around." He wagged his eyebrows at her. Both she and Meryn laughed.
"Colton, get your mangy ass out here!" Aiden bellowed from the foyer.
"I am loved after all, he missed me." Colton laughed and waved goodbye.
"Goofball," Rheia said and resumed eating her pancakes.
"A lovable goofball," Beth said.
"Sexy even," Meryn chimed in.
"Will you two be okay watching Penny?" Rheia asked.
Meryn looked at Beth. "I had no younger siblings and never babysat. You?"
Beth grimaced. "I was the youngest person in Noctem Falls for close to twenty years."
"We can help," A light male voiced said from the doorway. Rheia looked up to see two young men come into the room. She was shocked to see one of them in a wheelchair.
"Jaxon, Noah! Perfect timing. Meet Rheia and Penny. Rheia is Colton's mate and Penny is her daughter," Meryn said introducing them. The men smiled at her and waved. "We have five other trainees you haven't met yet. They've been helping the construction crew with their barracks. They'll spend the day moving in after the meeting Aiden just called. These two are my minions. Noah is the cutie with blond hair and Jaxon is my hell on wheels!" Jaxon laughed and Beth shook her head.
"Keelan filled us in on about Penny yesterday, we'll be happy to help," Jaxon said, meeting Rheia's eyes. She could tell he knew about Penny's past, the sympathy was in his eyes.
Noah took Colton's empty seat next to Penny. "So what do you want to do today?"
Penny rummaged around her bag, pulled out a box of crayons and held them up.
"Perfect! We're going to be working in Aiden's office today tracking down some older files to get an accurate Vanguard count, we'll set you up," Noah promised.
"See, no problem. Once a kid can walk and communicate, it's smooth sailing. It's the tiny ones that cause trouble." Meryn said rubbing her belly.
Beth sighed. "At least you're not calling her 'Larvae' or 'Spawn' anymore."
Meryn laughed. "I only did it to irritate Aiden. He gets the cutest little eye tick when I say stuff like that. It's adorable."
Beth stood. "You may make him the first shifter in history to suffer from high blood pressure."
Meryn shrugged and stood. They walked around the table and Meryn held her hand out to Penny. Penny turned and got up on her knees in the chair to give Rheia a kiss. Rheia gave her a tight hug before letting her hop down to join Meryn. Meryn promptly picked up Penny and put her in Jaxon's lap for a ride.
"Be good," Rheia called after them.
Meryn turned scowling. "Why does everyone always say that to me?"
Rheia chuckled. "I was talking to Penny, but if it applies..."
Meryn blushed. "I knew that. Have fun doing your medical thing." She turned to leave and then spun back around. "What's your number? I told Colton I'd give you his number so you could text him later." Meryn pulled out her phone and waited.
Rheia rattled off her phone number.
Meryn typed, her tiny fingers moving quickly. "Okay, I just texted you Colton's number, Aiden's number and the house phone number. You're officially hooked up."
"Thanks, Meryn," Rheia said as her phone buzzed from her bag.
"Latta." Meryn wiggled her fingers at her and breezed out the door.
Rheia just stared at the open doorway; suddenly the room was much bigger and felt empty.
"She has a presence that seems to take over everything around her, doesn't she?" Ryuu asked walking in from the kitchen.
"Yeah, she does. How long have you been with her?"
"Just a few months, but it seems longer. In a good way." Ryuu started stacking plates.
Rheia ate her last bite and picked up her coffee cup. "Could I ask a favor?" She turned the cup in her hand nervously.
Ryuu gave a half bow. "Of course."
"Could you see if Penny has any relatives in Lycaonia? Her last name is Carmichael; her mother's name was Elena." Rheia was afraid to find out if Penny had family, but she owed it to the little girl to find out. Living outside of Lycaonia, it hadn't been safe to alert others that Penny had survived. But they lived in Lycaonia now; there was no reason to keep her from her family.
"I'll contact Marius Steward; he is the squire to Aiden's mother, Adelaide. He knows just about everyone in the city and if he needs further information he can easily ask Aiden's father, Byron. Byron is the shifter Elder here in Lycaonia," he explained.
"Thank you." She took one final sip and set her cup down.
"Was there anything else you needed? Adjusting to this world can be difficult, even for those who have known about paranormals their entire lives." His dark eyes were filled with warmth.
"I think I'm okay for now. As long as Penny is happy, that's all I care about. Is my car still parked out front?" she asked standing.
He nodded. "I think they left it there for you to get to the clinic."
"Perfect. What time is lunch? I'd like to eat with Penny?"
"Noon. I used the internet and looked up child friendly foods. We will be having different types of sandwiches. Hopefully I can discern her likes and dislikes based on her choices" he said, frowning.
"I know Penny will love it. Thank you again, Ryuu."
"My pleasure. Don't forget your coat."
"I won't," she promised and went to the closet in the main hall. She grabbed her coat and left to go to the clinic.
*****
"Thanks Oron, there's no way I could have gotten these set up, even if I had a forklift. What do they feed you guys anyway? You're all huge," Rheia said before she sat down in one of the patient chairs they'd just carried.
Oron smiled. "We've always been the largest of all the paranormals, no one knows why. I'm glad I could help. Doc always takes good care of us. We do heal, but he helps us heal faster and with less pain."
"I'm not sure how much I'll be able to assist but I'll help any way I can. I think I have some catching up to do when it comes to shifter's accelerated healing."
"We're glad to have you. We were all hoping Colton would find his mate soon, the nightmares he was having changed him," Oron said, leaning against the examination table.
"Changed? What do you mean?" Rheia asked concerned.
"You've only seen him as he is now, and that's how he usually is, joking and carefree. He's the kinda guy that would literally give you the shirt off his back if you needed it and then walk around flexing, acting like you did him a favor." Rheia smiled and shook her head at the image. That definitely sounded like the Colton she had come to know.
Oron smiled and then got quiet. "The past couple weeks though, when he was dreaming of you, he was withdrawn, quiet, depressed. I don't think we all realized how much we rely on him to keep us upbeat and to balance out Aiden's grumpy nature. Drills have been exceedingly dry and almost painful without Colton's usual antics to liven things up."
Rheia suddenly wanted to talk with Colton; it was as if she had to know he was okay. She didn't realize she was clutching her chest until Oron bent down in front of her a panicked look of concern on his face.
"I didn't mean to upset you. I just figured that as a human, it might be hard to accept a mate since they don't exist in your world. I wanted to let you know that you lucked out, Colton is one of the good ones, you know?"
Even with him bending down, she had to look up at him. "Thank you. I think I'm starting to see how lucky I am, but don't tell him that. It would probably take weeks to deflate him."
Oron stood and laughed loudly. "You are getting to know him."
"Yeah, I am."
"Take good care of our boy and if you need any more help just let the commander know," Oron offered.
"Thanks, I will."
He waved goodbye and the door shut behind him.
Rheia looked at the clock there was still another hour until lunchtime. She stood and went to find Adam.
She found him cussing at a stack of papers at his desk.
"I know administrative work when I see it." Rheia walked in and sat in the chair across from him.
Adam growled. "Since the businessmen put up the money for the renovations they want weekly reports. What am I supposed to tell them? Sorry, no one nearly died today. I almost want to put Aiden in traction just so I have something to give them."
"How many warriors do you have?" she asked.
Adam sat back. "We have thirty at each level. Thirty full-fledged unit warriors, trainees and cadets, so ninety altogether."
"That's not including mates, right?"
"No, just the men. Why?"
"Well you have me here now," she started.
"You mean you'll do the reports for me?" he asked hopefully.
"No. But what I can do is give the guys their yearly physicals. If each unit had two men report per week for a yearly physical, in addition to the wellness checkups for the pregnant women and their babies, that's a pretty full report right there," she explained.
"But paranormals don't get physicals."
"They do now." She smiled widely.
Adam leaned back in his chair grinning from ear to ear. "I like the way you think. I'll call Aiden, we can start tomorrow."
"What are we going to do until then?"
"You and Oron got all of the rooms set up already?" He looked down at his watch and then up at her.
"Yeah, that guy was like a one man moving team. It should have been physically impossible for him to lift some of those machines." She frowned, remembering how easily he maneuvered the X-ray machine.
Adam smiled. "You missed his belt."
"His belt?"
Adam nodded. "I saw a charm hanging from his belt, probably done by Quinn, Gamma's witch. I bet that enabled him to lift higher weights than normal. That way only one person missed drills. From what I caught from the conversation with Aiden this morning, they're having to completely revamp all of their training schedules."
Rheia winced. "That may have been my fault," she explained the conversation they had at breakfast.
"Gods, you know I never thought of that either; no wonder he was in such a foul mood. Good thing Colton is back to normal, otherwise we'd probably have a full waiting room of men complaining that they pulled a muscle so that they could get away from Aiden."
"Was he really depressed?"
Adam nodded. "I was on the verge of pulling him in here for a chat when you showed up."
"Why wasn't I affected?"
Adam raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you?"
Rheia shook her head then stopped. She remembered her reaction to hearing his voice in her dreams. It hadn't been sexual, she would have dismissed that for what it was; the result of a dry spell. No, his voice had made her feel like she was complete, as if she had everything she ever wanted. Somehow in her dream she knew that no matter what, the faceless voice would be there for her. When she'd woken up she'd been relieved the nightmare was over, but at the same time she'd wept because he wasn't real. Each night when she went to sleep she'd been torn, she knew that with the terror came the knowledge that she wasn't alone. She'd been willing to suffer through one to get to the other.
"I take it from the look on your face that he affected you as well?"
"I didn't realize it until now, but in my nightmares, he was always there."
"There you go. Matings affect people differently. For some it's a grand passion, dramatic and lusty. For other's it's the quiet, simple, small things, like your mate knowing your favorite tea, or remembering that you always forget your keys. No two couples ever come together in the same way."
"Meryn said for her it was like getting a roofie," Rheia said looking up at Adam.
Adam's mouth dropped before he began to laugh. "Fate had her work cut out for her with those two. It probably would've been easier to drug them. Did she tell you that she beat Aiden unconscious with the back of his toilet?" he smirked.
"No! Little, itty, bitty Meryn took Aiden down? Are you sure she didn't drug him?"
Adam shook his head. "She's a force of nature. She threatened every single unit warrior with a revolver smaller than my shoe. What's even more unbelievable is that she had them shaken. But there's one thing I learned about Menace, there are no half measures. Either she loves you or she hates you. If she loves you she hugs you, if she hates you, she shoots you. There's a measure of comfort in that type of honesty."
"She is stable though, right? She's watching Penny."
"They'll be fine. Meryn's rough around the edges, but she isn't stupid. Everything makes perfect sense... to her." He winked.
"Okay, now I really need a project. If I sit here and think about what could be happening I'll lose it." Rheia stood.
Adam thought for a moment. "I have the perfect project for you, come on." He opened the door and headed down the hallway.
"Where are we going?" she asked, jogging to keep up with his long stride.
"The morgue."
Peachy.
CHAPTER SEVEN
"What is that?" Rheia asked, pointing to the body lying on the gurney.
"This, this is my enigma. He was brought in as one of the ferals killed during the attack of the Alpha estate, but unlike regular ferals, much less dead ones, he hasn't started decomposing. In fact, if I didn't know better I'd say this guy wasn't a feral at all since he's decomposing like a regular paranormal." Adam pulled back the sheet to reveal a plain looking man with nondescript brown hair and average build.
"When you say 'decomposing like a regular paranormal' what do you mean?" she asked stepping closer.
"Paranormals have a naturally regenerating cellular structure; it's why we age so much slower than humans. The same is true after death; the cells take a long time to break down. Ferals on the other hand, begin to decay while they're still alive. That's why this man's appearance is such a mystery. Not only do ferals have visible signs of decay while alive, once killed they practically rot in front of us."
"Did you take samples?" she asked.
"Of course. I have samples from a living paranormal, from this charming character and from a dead feral. They're in that locked cabinet. One of the keys I gave you should unlock it. I've been keeping them in a small travel sleeve with the portable microscope. It made it easier to take it all home for homework."
"Sounds like a challenge." Rheia was already heading to the cabinet.
"I'll leave you to it then." Adam gave a salute and left.
She pulled out the slender leather slide case, set it on the counter and turned back to the body. Visibly he was no different from any other corpse she'd ever seen. She turned to the counter and pulled out a pair of gloves and mask. There was no 'Y' incision, meaning there had been no autopsy. She wondered if Adam deliberately delayed the procedure or if that just wasn't a common practice with paranormals. She'd have to ask before she proceeded. She was about to head to the door to ask Adam for permission to proceed when she noticed a flicker out of the corner of her eye. She stared and then blinked. Why had they left a necklace on the body? She walked around to the long counter and pulled out a drawer. She found a pair of scissors and returned to the body, carefully cutting the leather thong and pulled the necklace free.
Instantly the smell of sickness and death overwhelmed her. She watched in horror as the body began to decompose right before her eyes. The once average corpse was becoming the thing of nightmares.
"Adam! Adam!" she screamed backing up towards the door.
Moments later the door burst open and Adam barreled in canines descended. He stopped abruptly and covered his face with his hand.
; "What in the hell happened?" he demanded grabbing her arm and pulling her into the hallway.
Coughing, she had to rip the mask away, before dropping to her knees to retch on the immaculate new tile floor.
"Shh, honey it's okay. Just get it all up." Adam rubbed her back with one hand and fumbled with his phone with the other. Seconds later, she heard him talking to Aiden.
"I need you and Colton at the clinic now," he said coughing.
"Are you hurt?" she heard Aiden demand. In the background, she heard Colton's voice.
"Is Rheia okay? Dammit, Aiden! Is she hurt?" she was secretly pleased to hear that Colton sounded angry.
"Adam, answer us!" Aiden yelled.
Adam cleared his throat and swallowed hard. "We're fine; I just need you down here. There's been a development with our mystery man."
"On our way," Aiden said and ended the call.
"Your mate sounded concerned," Adam joked as he helped her to stand. Together they walked to the water fountain. They each took a turn rinsing out their mouths. When they were done, they each looked at the other and sat down on the floor leaning against the wall. The smell had literally knocked them on their asses. Rheia's stomach was still trying to climb up the back of her throat when Colton and Aiden rounded the corner at a dead run.
"Gods! Rheia, are you okay?" Colton skidded to a stop and dropped down in front of her.
She nodded. "Just tossed my cookies. I didn't even do that when I was a med student. That is one foul bastard in there." Colton pulled Rheia to her feet and wrapped a steadying arm around her waist.
Aiden helped Adam to stand. "I thought this one wasn't like the others."
Adam shook his head. "He wasn't. At least he wasn't when I left the room. What happened, Rheia?"
Colton stepped in front of her. "She didn't do anything wrong."
Adam looked at Colton. "I know. But something changed from the time I left until she called me back in."
Rheia held up the necklace that was still in her hand. "All I did was remove this from the body."
Adam frowned. "There wasn't anything on the body, it had been completely stripped."